In short, a trust is created when one party with property, the settlor, transfers that property to another party, the trustee, for the benefit of a third party, the beneficiary or beneficiaries. In principle this means there are at least three essential parties to a trust: the settlor, the trustee and the beneficiary/ies. It is important to note, however, that the settlor is not officially a party to the trust, because he no longer has a legal interest in the trust property. Nonetheless, no trust could exist without a settlor, as the settlor is the party who transfers assets to the trust to begin with.
Trusts also allow for a protector, which is a party who oversees the trustee´s administration of trust assets, and whose permission is required before the trustee can take certain actions.
